Little Girl
by CSIMel
Summary: She saw herself in the little girl and that scared Calleigh more than anything. One shot.


**LITTLE GIRL**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. Just ask the guys that own me. Or the song 'Home' By Sarah McLachlan.**

**Rating: G**

**A/N: This is my attempt at a non-shippy fic. I originally wasn't going to post this, but what the hey. This is mainly a Calleigh centred fic, which touches on some stuff from her background that has been covered on the show and partly some of my creative liberties. **

**Summary: She saw herself in the little girl and that scared Calleigh more than anything. One shot.

* * *

**

_And look at the child with the dream in her eyes  
holding it deep inside her._

The CSI's arrived at the scene at about 8:30 am. The crime scene was a two-story home in a recently developed neighbourhood – _Evergreen Lakes_. Neighbours had called it in, reporting of hearing yelling and gunshots early in the morning.

_A convenient alarm clock, _Calleigh mused.

The house, on the inside was very plain. There were no pictures, no painting, and no knick-knacks on the tables. Aside from the usual furniture and electronics there was no sign that anyone lived there.

"Male and Female, gunshot wound to the chest," Alexx called out.

Horatio hovered around the crime scene, silently observing. Ryan was taking pictures.

"At least a dozen empty bottles in the trash," Eric called out from the kitchen.

Alexx leaned closer to the male victim.

"There's definitely alcohol on this ones breath," Alexx replied.

Horatio bent over the female victim.

"Bruising on the upper arms and face," Horatio observed.

Everyone knew what that meant.

Alexx moved to where Horatio was positioned, having a closer look.

"Signs of domestic abuse," she said softly, confirming everyone's suspicions.

It didn't take the CSI's long to form the assumption that the man was an alcoholic.

Calleigh stood at the foot of the stairs, staring blankly at the scene. It felt too familiar and she suddenly wished she were somewhere else.

"Calleigh?"

Calleigh looked up. Next to her, Horatio had laid a comforting hand on her shoulder.

She glanced at the others, who were giving her sympathetic glances. God, the last thing she wanted was their pity. Calleigh stared at the floor, pretending to be examining a spot then abruptly cleared her throat.

"I'm going to check upstairs," Calleigh said, her quietness replaced with her usual cheerfulness.

She made her way up the stairs and the CSI's continued to work in silence.

"Poor girl," Alexx said softly. They all knew she wasn't talking about the female victim.

"Ran the house," Detective Frank Tripp announced, entering the crime scene, "it's a rental – tenants are David and Joan Winters. According to the landlord they were nice people who always paid their rent on time." Tripp observed the blood on the floor. "Don't think they'll be getting their bond back." He joked meekly.

They continued to work, with Tripp standing nearby. One of the ME assistants brought in two body bags.

"Were there only two vics?" Tripp asked, confused.

"Should there be more, Frank?" Horatio asked Tripp, fiddling with his sunglasses.

"The Winters' has a daughter – Kelly, 7," Tripp stated.

"Horatio!"

The team looked towards the stairs, noting the urgency in Calleigh's voice.

"I believe we've found her," Horatio said calmly, heading towards the stairs.

* * *

Calleigh was silently panicking. Horatio was the one who usually dealt with children and he was good at it. The way he spoke softly and calmly – children immediately trusted him. She tried doing what he did once, but she scared the child half to death.

She knew she had to act quickly. Gaining a child's trust was always vital to the case.

"Hey there," Calleigh said sweetly, in a voice she reserved for her nieces and nephews.

The child didn't move.

"My name's Calleigh, and I'm with the police," she said softly.

The little girl poked her head out from under the bed.

"I'm Kelly." There was a pause. "Your name sounds like mine."

Calleigh laughed.

"We should be friends," Calleigh smiled at the girl, who grinned back.

"Can I see your badge?" The little girl asked softly.

Calleigh unclipped her badge from her belt and handed it to the girl. Kelly held it delicately in her hand, running her fingers over its shiny surface.

Horatio entered the room and Calleigh walked over to the other side, allowing Horatio to talk to the girl.

They talked softly for a couple of minutes and Calleigh stood awkwardly in the doorway.

"Let's take a ride downtown, how's that sound?" Horatio said his voice returning to normal volume.

"Can Calleigh come with us?" Kelly asked shyly.

"Of course she can," Horatio smiled, looking back at Calleigh.

That was how she found herself sitting in the back of the Hummer, the seven year old curled up against her, fast asleep.

"Are you alright, Calleigh?" Horatio asked softly.

Calleigh looked down and the little girl next to her.

"Yeah," she nodded, "I think I am."

* * *

Calleigh walked out of the elevator. After they had reached to lab, Horatio had called a social worker to talk to Kelly, leaving Calleigh to get to work on the ballistics aspect of the case. Just after she had written up the report, Horatio paged her to the conference room.

"Calleigh," Horatio greeted her, not taking his eyes off the room.

"The 9mm in the victims was a match the gun found besides David Winters," Calleigh reported.

"Good job."

Calleigh stood awkwardly with Horatio, waiting for him to explain why he paged her. After a few minutes of silence, Calleigh spoke up.

"Why did you page me, Horatio?"

Before Horatio could reply, the social worker stepped out of the conference room, making her way towards them.

"How is she?" Calleigh found herself asking.

"Good, given the circumstances," the woman answered, "it's a casebook example of domestic violence – father gets drunk and takes it out on the mother. She's too afraid to leave him."

Calleigh stared at the ground.

"And the girl?" Horatio asked, worriedly.

"No signs of physical trauma," she replied, "as far as emotional and psychological – who knows the extent of the damage."

They all stared into the conference room in silence. Kelly was playing with a doll.

"See how she's sitting, all curled up?" The social worker asked.

Horatio and Calleigh nodded.

"Classic behaviours for children in her situation. They will make themselves as small as possible, as an attempt to hide from whatever they're afraid of. You say you found her under the bed?"

Calleigh nodded.

"Another behaviour."

Alexx walked over to where they were huddled.

"What did you find, Alexx?" Horatio asked.

"Just as we originally suspected – murder suicide. Male victim had GSR on his hands to prove it."

"I better break the news to Kelly," the social worker said softly, "I've organised for her to stay with her Aunt and Uncle from Orlando."

She entered the conference room. Kelly lifted her head and the CSI's had a clear view of Kelly's tear stained cheeks.

Calleigh could feel tears welling up in the corners of her eyes.

"I have to go," Calleigh announced and hurried down the corridor.

Once Calleigh was in the safety of her ballistics lab, she sat on the cold, dark floor and cried.

* * *

Later that day, at about 5:30 pm, Calleigh was ready to go home. It had been an emotional day and she wanted nothing more than to forget about the little girl – the girl who reminded her so much of herself that it scared her. She left the building and a small figure ran up and started tugging on her arm.

Calleigh looked down, startled.

It was Kelly.

"Hey, Kelly," Calleigh smiled, "where's the lady who was looking after you?"

"She's inside talking to my Uncle Pat and Auntie Laura." Kelly said, "I'm going to live with them."

Until this point, Calleigh had forgotten that Kelly was an orphan. She squatted down so she was Kelly's height.

"Always remember that your Mommy and Daddy loved you very much," Calleigh said softly.

"Not my Daddy," the girl whispered, crying, "If he loved me, he wouldn't have hurt Mommy."

Calleigh placed a comforting arm on the child's shoulder, unsure of what to say.

"When I was growing up, my Daddy was like your Daddy,"

"Did he die?" Kelly asked.

"No, but he hurt my mother and my brothers and I."

"Did you ever forgive him?"

"A bit – a part of me will never be able to. But he's getting better – our relationship is getting better. It is often those that love us the most that hurt us the most," Calleigh said quietly, "and you may not understand this now, but your Daddy –" Calleigh took a deep breath, "your Daddy loved you very much. Never forget that."

The little girl threw herself into Calleigh's arms and started sobbing loudly.

"Hey now," Calleigh stroked Kelly's hair, "your parents wouldn't want you to be sad."

"Why not? They can't tell." Kelly cried.

"Yes they can," Calleigh said, looking into the girl's eyes, "they're watching over you from heaven."

"Even Daddy?"

Calleigh, who seriously doubted the Lord would let an alcoholic, wife beating, murderer into heaven, nodded.

"Even your Daddy."

Kelly hugged Calleigh again and after a minute or two, pulled away. Calleigh could feel something hard and smooth in her hand.

"That's yours."

Calleigh looked down. It was her badge. She took Kelly's hand and placed it in her palm.

"You keep it."

It probably wasn't a good move, giving her badge away and it was going to be hell explaining to Stetler why she gave her badge to a seven year old.

But after seeing the smile of Kelly's face, it was definitely worth it.

"Really?"

"Really." Calleigh said firmly. "If you ever need to find me, just use the badge."

"You won't forget me?" Kelly asked quietly.

"Never."

As Calleigh gave the girl one last hug, she knew everything would be all right.

They'd both be just fine.

* * *

**A/N: Hope you guys enjoyed that.**

**Please review – your reviews make a teenage girl smile **


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